Polynucleotide probe and primer for detecting beer-clouding lactic acid bacteria and method of detecting beer-clouding lactic acid bacteria

ABSTRACT

An object of the present invention is to provide probes and primers for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria with accuracy. The probes and primers for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria according to the present invention each comprises a nucleotide sequence consisting of at least 15 nucleotides that hybridizes with the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of detecting lactic acid bacteria which cause beer turbidity or cloudiness and affect beer quality. The present invention also relates to a protein specific to lactic acid bacteria which cause beer turbidity or cloudiness and a polynucleotide encoding the protein.

2. Description of the Background Art

Beer is a drink that has limited carbon sources, contains alcohol and carbon dioxide gas, presents low pH and anaerobic conditions, and further contains substances having antimicrobial activity derived from hops such as isohumulone, making it difficult for microbial contamination or microbial growth to occur. However, it is known that when, even under these conditions, beer is contaminated with a certain kind of lactic acid bacteria which belong to genus Lactobacillus or genus Pediococcus, the bacteria grow and cause beer turbidity or cloudiness to greatly affect the quality of beer. Typical examples of such lactic acid bacteria include L. brevis, P. damnosus and L. lindneri but some other lactic acid bacteria are also confirmed to have such activity. However, it is known that even among lactic acid bacteria that belong to the same species, some strains grow in beer to cause turbidity and cloudiness (hereinafter referred to as “beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria”) while others don't grow (hereinafter referred to as “non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria”). This inconsistency often occurs with strains of L. brevis and P. damnosus. Therefore, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria cannot be directly detected simply by distinguishing the species.

Methods for the detection and distinction of lactic acid bacteria that affect the quality of beer have been studied to date. In a typical method, DNA is extracted from lactic acid bacteria and the presence of a particular gene of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria (hereinafter referred to as a “marker”) is confirmed by Southern hybridization reaction or the like. In particular today, a method of distinguishing lactic acid bacteria by amplifying a DNA sequence by a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method using an oligonucleotide as a primer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 141899/1994) is used to distinguish lactic acid bacteria. This method has advantages such that only a small amount of bacterial cells is required for distinction, the operation is simple, and a result can be obtained in a short time.

When this method is used for distinguishing beer-spoilage lactic acid bacterial, its success or failure is most influenced by a marker and a primer sequence constructed based on the marker. Namely, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having a marker and a primer sequence constructed from the marker can easily be detected, but beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria not having such sequences cannot be detected even if they are present. On the other hand, when non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having such sequences are present, they are mistakenly detected as beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

In the conventional method for distinguishing beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by PCR, an attempt has been made to solve the abovementioned problem by using a 16S ribosomal RNA gene as a marker and constructing a primer based on this marker. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene is a gene essential for sustaining bacterial viability and is highly preservable, but it has a region where the DNA sequence can be different in different organic species, which is called a variable region. This variable region is widely used in classification of organic species, genealogical analysis of evolution, and the like, and similarly for lactic acid bacteria, this gene can be used as a marker to detect and distinguish the abovementioned L. brevis, P. damnosus, L. lindneri, and the like.

However, there are two problems with this method. First, it is highly probable that since the DNA sequence of the primer is associated with a gene which is not directly related to the beer-spoilage ability, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having a certain mutation in this site cannot be detected, even if they are present. The variable region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene is considered to be vulnerable to mutation and thus beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having mutation in a small region of the PCR primer may not be detected even if they are present.

The other problem is that this method, which is essentially for the distinction of organic species, cannot be applicable to distinguish beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria from non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, particularly for L. brevis and P. damnosus, because among lactic acid bacteria that belong to the same species, some strains could be beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria while others could be non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, as mentioned above.

Accordingly, there has been a need for a marker gene which detects beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria more accurately than the 16S ribosomal RNA gene.

An example of the most desirable marker to detect beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria more accurately than the 16S ribosomal RNA gene is firstly the very causative gene that renders lactic acid bacteria beer-spoilage ability. Further, the next preferable marker is a base sequence which is known to be located in the proximity to the gene that renders lactic acid bacteria beer-spoilage ability.

There have been several reports on genes which are considered to be important for beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria to acquire the beer-spoilage ability. For example, there is a report on a method of constructing a probe for the distinction of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria from a plasmid which is known to grow in lactic acid bacteria which have become resistant to a high hop concentration by gradual acclimatization to a medium containing a high concentration of hops (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3057552).

However, this method has a problem that it does not necessarily reflect the primary difference between beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria since the lactic acid bacteria are treated forcefully to acquire the hop resistance.

There are reports on obtaining genes specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. For example, as for genes derived from L. brevis, horA obtained as a hop resistance gene (Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemistry, 55, 137-140, 1997) and hita, which is considered to be a gene related to manganese intake (Federation of European Microbiological Societies and Netherlands Society for Microbiology, Abstract of the Sixth Lactic Acid Bacteria Symposium, September 1999), have been reported. Though not quite satisfactorily, these gene are considered to be effective as markers for determining beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria for L. brevis; however, horA erroneously identifies non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria as beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria at a high frequency for L. brevis and neither of the genes can distinguish beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria for P. damnosus. Therefore, there has been a need for a marker for the detection of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria which is widely applicable and has a high correlation with the spoilage ability as compared to these previously reported markers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of distinguishing beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria with improved accuracy and a probe, a primer, a primer pair, and an antibody for use in implementing this method.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a protein specific to lactic acid bacteria having beer-spoilage ability, a method of producing said protein, a polynucleotide encoding said protein, a vector carrying said polynucleotide, and a host transformed by said vector.

The present inventor has now succeeded in obtaining a region (SEQ ID NO: 79) which contains a specific gene widely found in beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria (Example 1). Further, the present inventor has found that beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be distinguished at an extremely high probability when the distinction was carried out by a PCR method using a primer constructed based on this gene (Example 2).

A polynucleotide probe for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria according to the present invention comprises a nucleotide sequence consisting of at least 15 nucleotides, which hybridizes with the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof.

A method of detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria according to the present invention comprises the steps of hybridizing a polynucleotide probe of the present invention with a polynucleotide in a sample and then detecting a hybridization complex.

A polynucleotide primer for use in the detection of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by a nucleic acid amplification reaction according to the present invention comprises a nucleotide sequence consisting of at least 15 nucleotides, which hybridizes with the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof.

A primer pair according to the present invention comprises two kinds of primers of the present invention and can amplify a genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by a nucleic acid amplification method.

A method for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria according to the present invention comprises the steps of amplifying a polynucleotide in a sample by a nucleic acid amplification reaction using a primer pair of the present invention and then detecting the resulting amplified polynucleotide.

A protein according to the present invention comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, or the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7.

Further, a protein according to the present invention is a protein which is obtainable by the steps of culturing a host comprising a recombinant vector carrying a polynucleotide described below and recovering the protein that is an expression product of said polynucleotide.

A polynucleotide according to the present invention encodes the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5, or the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7.

A recombinant vector according to the present invention carries a polynucleotide of the present invention.

A transformed host according to the present invention comprises a recombinant vector of the present invention.

A method for producing a protein according to the present invention comprises the steps of culturing a host comprising a recombinant vector carrying a polynucleotide of the present invention and recovering the protein that is an expression product of said polynucleotide.

An antibody according to the present invention is against a protein according to the present invention.

A method of detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria according to the present invention comprises the steps of reacting an antibody according to the present invention with a sample and detecting the antigen-antibody reaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the positions of the open reading frames and the restriction sites in the gene region (SEQ ID NO: 79) specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Polynucleotide Probe

As shown in Example 1, the present inventor succeeded in obtaining a gene region specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria (SEQ ID NO: 79). The obtained region has 10 open reading frames (ORFs) (designated as ORF1 to ORF10; see FIG. 1). In particular, genes of ORF1 to ORF3 form a single operon, and presumably ORF3 is a gene for glycosyltransferase or dolichol phosphate mannose synthetase, and ORF3 is a gene for teichoic acid galactosyltransferase. Accordingly, this operon is considered to be involved in sugar chain synthesis in the cell wall. It has been reported that a particular sugar chain is present in the cell surface layer of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by Yasui et al. (FERM Microbiology Letters, 133, 181-186, 1995) and Tsuchiya et al. (Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemistry, 58, 89-93, 2000). Further, as shown later in the example, markedly high correlation with beer-spoilage ability was found when detection was carried out using these genes as a marker. Therefore, at least, these three genes are involved in the sugar chain synthesis on the cell surface layer and contribute to the growth of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria in beer. In other words, it is highly probable that they are at least a part of causative gene related to the beer-spoilage ability. Accordingly, this operon region is useful as a marker for distinguishing beer-spoilage ability and a polynucleotide probe based on the nucleotide sequence of this region according to the present invention can be used for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

Further, the present inventor fully studied both sides of the operon region to find out up to which extent the region could be used as a marker for distinguishing beer-spoilage ability and obtained the following results (see Example 2).

(1) When regions ORF1 through ORF4, and ORF8 are each used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be distinguished from non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria at a markedly high frequency for lactic acid bacterial such as L. brevis and P. damnosus.

(2) When regions ORF9 and ORF10 are each used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be distinguished from non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria at a markedly high frequency for L. brevis but not for P. damnosus.

(3) Regions ORF5, ORF6 and ORF7 cannot be used for distinguishing beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria from non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria at least as far as the inventor studied. (However, ORF7 can possibly be used for distinguishing species of lactic acid bacteria.)

Accordingly, a probe according to the present invention can be preferably a probe comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof.

A polynucleotide probe according to the present invention can be preferably a probe comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence from position 2818 to position 8056 of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof (sequence extending from ORF1 through ORF4 and ORF8; see FIG. 1), more preferably a probe comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence from position 4202 to position 7513 of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof (sequence extending from ORF1 through ORF3; see FIG. 1), and most preferably a probe comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 (ORF1), SEQ ID NO: 4 (ORF2), or SEQ ID NO: 6 (ORF3) or the complementary sequence thereof.

A probe comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of any one of SEQ ID NO: 2 (ORF1), SEQ ID NO: 4 (ORF2), and SEQ ID NO: 6 (ORF3) has an advantage that beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be detected without difficulty even if the beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having the same ORF sequences but in different order.

A probe according to the present invention can also be a probe which has at least 70%, preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95% homology to the nucleotide sequence comprising 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof, and hybridizes with a genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

Examples of the “genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria” include the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and a partial sequence thereof, the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a partial sequence thereof, the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 and a partial sequence thereof, and the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 and a partial sequence thereof.

In the present invention, the term “hybridize” means to hybridize with a target nucleotide sequence under stringent conditions and not to hybridize with a nucleotide sequence other than the target nucleotide sequence. The stringent conditions can be determined depending on Tm (° C.) of the double strand of a probe sequence (or a primer sequence described below) and a complementary chain thereof, the necessary salt concentration, or the like, and it is a well-known technique to the skilled in the art to set appropriate stringent conditions after selecting a sequence for a probe (for example, see J. Sambrook, E. F. Frisch, T. Maniatis; Molecular Cloning, 2nd edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1988). For example, when hybridization is carried out using a probe consisting of 15 nucleotides under stringent conditions appropriate to this probe (at a temperature slightly lower than the Tm determined by a nucleotide sequence and at an appropriate salt concentration), the hybridization takes place specifically with a sequence complementary to this nucleotide sequence and not with a sequence non-complementary to this nucleotide.

In the present invention, the term “polynucleotide probe” means a probe that is used for means of detecting nucleic acid, such Southern hybridization, Northern hybridization, and colony hybridization.

In the present invention, the term “polynucleotide” includes DNA, RNA, and PNA (peptide nucleic acid).

A polynucleotide probe according to the present invention has at least 15 nucleotides length, more preferably at least 20 nucleotides length.

A polynucleotide probe according to the present invention can be prepared by chemical synthesis of nucleic acid according to an ordinary method such as a phosphite triester method (Hunkapiller, M. et al., Nature, 310, 105, 1984), or by obtaining the whole DNA of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria which belong to L. brevis and then appropriately obtaining a DNA fragment containing a target nucleotide sequence based on a nucleotide sequence disclosed in this specification using a PCR method or the like, according to the method described in the Example below.

Method for Detecting Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria Using Polynucleotide Probe

A detection method using a polynucleotide probe can be carried out by hybridizing a polynucleotide probe according to the present invention with a nucleic acid sample and then detecting a hybridization complex, namely a nucleotide double strand. In a detection method according to the present invention, the presence of the hybridization complex indicates the presence of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

In a detection method using a probe, the term “hybridize” means the same as described in the polynucleotide probe section above.

In a detection method using a probe, the probe can be labeled. Examples of the labels include those using radioactivity (e.g., ³²P, ¹⁴C and ³⁵S), fluorescence (e.g., FITC and europium), and enzyme reactions, for example, with chemical coloring (e.g., peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase).

Detection of a hybridization complex can be carried out using conventional techniques such as Southern hybridization and colony hybridization (for example, see J. Sambrook, E. F. Frisch, T. Maniatis; Molecular Cloning, 2nd edition, cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1989).

A test sample can be a sample suspected to contain beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and more specifically, a bacterial colony detected by a microbial examination of beer.

Primer and Primer Pair

A primer and a primer pair according to the present invention each can hybridize with a genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. Accordingly, a primer pair according to the present invention can be used for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by a nucleic acid amplification method such as a PCR method.

A primer according to the present invention can preferably be a primer comprising at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof.

In the present invention, the term “primer” means a nucleotide sequence for use in a nucleic acid amplification method such as a PCR method.

In the present invention, the term “primer pair” means a pair of primers for use in a nucleic acid amplification method such as a PCR method.

A primer according to the present invention can comprise at least 15 nucleotides (preferably 15 to 30 nucleotides), preferably at least 20 nucleotides (more preferably 20 to 30 nucleotides).

A primer pair according to the present invention can be selected so that a genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be amplified by a nucleic acid amplification method such as a PCR method. A nucleic acid amplification method is known and the selection of the primer pair in the nucleic acid amplification method will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in a PCR method, primers can be selected so that one of the two primers attaches to one chain of a double stranded DNA specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, the other primer attaches to the other chain of the double stranded DNA and one primer attaches to an extended chain extended by the other primer.

More specifically, a primer pair can be selected so that one primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and the other primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. Further, since particularly the regions of ORF1, ORF2, ORF3, ORF4, and ORF 8 are considered to be specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, a primer can be designed so that these regions can be amplified (see Examples 2 and 3).

Further, a primer pair according to the present invention can be preferably a primer pair in which one primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence from position 2818 to position 8056 of SEQ ID NO: 1 (sequence covering ORF1 through ORF 4 and ORF8) and the other primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence from position 2818 to position 8056 of SEQ ID NO: 1, more preferably a primer pair in which one primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence from position 4202 to position 7513 of SEQ ID NO: 1 (sequence covering ORF1 through ORF 3) and the other primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence from position 4202 to position 7513 of SEQ ID NO: 1, and most preferably a primer pair in which one primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, or SEQ ID NO: 6 and the other primer comprises at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, or SEQ ID NO: 6.

A primer pair which amplifies one of the sequences of SEQ ID NO: 2 (ORF1), SEQ ID NO: 4 (ORF2) and SEQ ID NO: 6 (ORF3) or a partial sequence thereof has an advantage that beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be detected without difficulty even if the beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria having the same ORF sequences but in different order.

A primer according to the present invention can also be a probe which has at least 70%, preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, most preferably at least 95% homology to the nucleotide sequence comprising 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof, and hybridizes with a genomic sequence specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

A primer according to the present invention can be chemically synthesized based on a nucleotide sequence disclosed in this specification by an ordinary method such as a phosphite triester method (Hunkapiller, M. et al., Nature, 310, 105, 1984). Primers can be prepared, for example, according to “Bio Experiment Illustrated 3, Virtually Amplifying PCR” (by Hiroki Nakayama, Shujun sha).

Method of Detecting Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria Using Primer Pair

The term “hybridize” in a detection method using a primer pair means the same as described in the polynucleotide probe section above.

As disclosed in the Example described below, the detection of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria using a primer pair can be carried out by obtaining DNA from a sample, performing PCR with a primer according to the present invention using this DNA as a template according to an ordinary method, and detecting the presence or absence of amplification of DNA fragments specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. The PCR technique itself is well known (for example, see “Bio Experiment Illustrated 3, Virtually Amplifying PCR”) and those skilled in the art can carry out a method of the present invention using an appropriate primer. In a detection method using a primer pair according to the present invention, the presence of amplification products indicates the presence of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

A test sample can be a sample suspected to contain beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and more specifically, a bacterial colony detected by a microbial examination of beer.

Protein Specific to Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria and Polynucleotide Encoding the Protein

A protein according to the present invention can be an indicator for the presence of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria since it is specifically expressed in beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. Accordingly, a protein according to the present invention is useful, for example, in preparing an antibody according to the present invention as described below.

A protein according to the present invention include a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 which has one or more modifications and has glucosyltransferase or dolichol phosphate mannose synthetase activity, and a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 which has one or more modifications and has teichoic acid galactosyltransferase activity.

The term “modification” in this specification means substitutions, deletions, additions and insertions. The number of modifications can be, for example, one to several, more specifically one to six. When two or more modifications are present, the type of introduced modifications can be the same or different.

Further, a protein according to the present invention can be specified as a protein which is obtainable by the steps of culturing a host comprising a recombinant vector carrying a polynucleotide according to the present invention and collecting the protein that is an expression product of said polynucleotide.

A polynucleotide according to the present invention encodes a protein specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and is thus useful for producing a protein according to the present invention using gene recombination technology, as described below.

A polynucleotide according to the present invention can be a chemically synthesized DNA or naturally occurring DNA (derived from chromosomes or plasmids).

In obtaining a polynucleotide according to the present invention, a DNA fragment having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, or SEQ ID NO: 6 is obtainable, for example, by obtaining the whole DNA of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria which belong to L. brevis, appropriately constructing a primer based on a nucleotide sequence disclosed in this specification so as to obtain a DNA fragment containing the target nucleotide sequence, and then amplifying the DNA fragment by a PCR method, according to the method described in the Example below, or alternatively, a polynucleotide can be prepared by nucleic acid chemical synthesis according to an ordinary method such as the phosphite triester method (Hunkapiller, M. et al., Nature, 310, 105, 1984). DNA having a nucleotide sequence of a degenerate sequence of the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, or SEQ ID NO: 6 is obtainable by nucleic acid chemical synthesis based on an amino acid sequence disclosed in this specification.

A DNA sequence thus obtained can be confirmed by analysis according to a Maxam Gilbert method (for example, described in Maxam, A. M. and W. Gilbert, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 74, 560, 1977) or a Sanger method (for example, described in Sanger, F. and A. R. Coulson, J. Mol. Biol., 94, 441, 1975; Sanger, F., S, Nicklen and A. R. Coulson, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 74, 5463, 1977).

Recombinant Vector and Transformant

A recombinant vector according to the present invention can be constructed by incorporating a polynucleotide according to the present invention into a vector which is replicable in a host and carries a detectable marker gene, using an ordinary genetic engineering technique.

A recombinant vector according to the present invention can be produced according to a technique conventionally used for vector construction. More specifically, when a microorganism Escherichia coli is used as a host, for example, plasmid pUC119 (Takara Shuzo Co. Ltd.) and phagemid pBluescript II (Stratagene) can be used. When a yeast is used as a host, plasmid pYES2 (Invitrogen Corp.) can be used. When a mammalian cell is used as a host, plasmids such as pRC/RSV and pSRC/CMV (Invitrogen Corp.), a vector containing self-replication origin derived from viruses, such as EB virus plasmid Prep4, and pCEP4 (Invitrogen Corp.), can be used. When an insect cell is used as a host, an insect virus such as baculovirus can be used. When DNA is incorporated into a virus such as baculovirus, a transfer vector containing a base sequence homologous to the genome of the virus to be used can be used. Examples of such a transfer vector include plasmids such as pBacPAK8 and pAcUW31 commercially available from Clontech. When a polynucleotide according to the present invention is inserted into a transfer vector and the transfer vector and a virus genome are simultaneously introduced into a host, homologous recombination takes place between the transfer vector and the virus genome, yielding a virus in which the polynucleotide of the present invention is incorporated into the genome.

A vector with which a protein according to the present invention can be expressed in a host can be constructed by operably linking a polynucleotide according to the present invention to regulatory sequences (for example, a promoter sequence and a terminator sequence) operable in the host, and incorporating the product into a vector.

In the present specification, the expression “operably link” means that regulatory sequences are linked to a polynucleotide according to the present invention so that the expression takes place under the control of the regulatory sequences in a host into which the polynucleotide according to the present invention is introduced. Generally, a promoter can be linked to the upstream of the gene and a terminator can be linked to the downstream of the gene.

A promoter to be used is not particularly limited as long as it exhibits promoter activity in a host to be transformed. For example, an adenovirus (Ad) early or late promoter, a Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter, a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, a simian virus (SV40) early or late promoter, a mouse mammalian tumor virus (MMTV) promoter, a thymidine kinase (tk) gene promoter of herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be used when an animal cell or fission yeast is used as a host cell; a ADH1 or GAL1 promoter can be used for a budding yeast; and the baculovirus polyhedron promoter or Drosophila metallothionein promoter can be used for an insect cell.

When a vector already carrying a promoter that functions in a host is used, a promoter contained in the vector can be operably linked to a polynucleotide according to the present invention.

For example, in plasmids pRC/RSV, pRC/CMV and the like, a cloning site is located downstream of a promoter operable in an animal cell, and thus a protein according to the present invention can be expressed by inserting a polynucleotide according to the present invention into the cloning site and then introducing the plasmid into the animal cell. Since the SV40 autonomous replication origin (ori) is already incorporated into these plasmids, the number of copies of such plasmids in a cell greatly increases when these plasmids are introduced into a culture cell transformed with an ori(−) SV40 genome, such as a COS cell, which can result in mass expression of the polynucleotide according to the present invention incorporated into said plasmids. Further, plasmid pYES2 for budding yeast has the GAL1 promoter and thus a vector with which a protein according to the present invention can be massively expressed in a budding yeast, such as INVSc1 (Invitrogen Corp.), can be constructed by inserting a DNA according to the present invention downstream of the GALL promoter of this plasmid or a derivative thereof.

A recombinant vector according to the present invention can be further linked to a marker gene to select transformants.

Further, a polynucleotide encoding an amino acid sequence of another protein or a part thereof at the 5′ or 3′ site of the polynucleotide according to the present invention can be linked in frame to a recombinant vector according to the present invention directly or via a polynucleotide encoding an amino acid sequence corresponding to a cleavage site peculiar to a specific protease. The amino acid sequence of another protein or a part thereof may have a signal peptide for secretion at its N terminal and in such a case, ligation to the 5′ site is preferable.

A recombinant vector according to the present invention can be introduced into a host according to an ordinary method suitable for the host to be transformed.

For example, when E. coli is used as a host, a calcium chloride method or an electroporation method can be used as described in Molecular Cloning, J. Sambrook et al., Cold Spring Harbor (1989) and the like. When a yeast cell is used as a host, a vector can be introduced, for example, using a Yeast Transformation Kit (Invitrogen Corp.) according to the lithium method. When a mammalian cell, insect cell, or the like is used as a host, a calcium phosphate method, a DEAE dextran method, an electroporation method, a lipofection method, or the like can be used. When a virus is used as a vector, the virus genome can be introduced into a host by using any of the abovementioned ordinary method for gene introduction or by infecting a host with a virus particle carrying the virus genome.

Transformants can be selected by a method appropriate to the nature of a marker gene contained in an introduced recombinant vector according to the present invention.

For example, when the marker gene is a tolerance gene for a drug which exhibits cytotoxic activity, a cell into which a recombinant vector according to the present invention is introduced can be cultured using a medium supplemented with this drug. Examples of a combination of such drug resistance gene and selectable drug include a neomycin resistance gene and neomycin, a hygromycin resistance gene and hygromycin, and a blasticidin S resistance gene and blasticidin S. Further, when the marker gene is a gene complementing nutritional requirement of a host, a cell into which a recombinant vector according to the present invention is introduced can be cultured using a minimal medium without the corresponding nutrient. In order to obtain a transformant in which a gene according to the present invention is incorporated into the host chromosome, for example, a recombinant vector according to the present invention is linearized by digesting with a restriction enzyme or the like, after which the resulting fragment is introduced into the host cell by the abovementioned method, the resulting cell is cultured generally for several weeks, and then the transformant of interest can be selected using a detection marker introduced as an indicator. For example, a recombinant vector according to the present invention having a selectable drug resistance gene as mentioned above as a marker gene is introduced into a host by the abovementioned method, and then cultivation by passage is carried out on a medium supplemented with the selectable drug for several weeks or longer, after which selectable drug resistance clones survived as a colony were sucked up by a pipette and purified, and thus the transformant in which the gene according to the present invention is incorporated into the host chromosome can be obtained. The transformant thus obtained can be stored frozen and revived for use when needed, so that the trouble of constructing the transformant can be avoided and the function of the transformant can be maintained consistently, which makes it advantageous as compared to a strain into which a gene is temporarily incorporated.

A protein according to the present invention can be produced by culturing a transformed host according to the present invention and collecting the protein according to the present invention from the resulting culture.

A protein missing one or more residues at the N terminal and/or C terminal ends due to processing or the like in a host can also be satisfactorily used as an antigen to obtain an antibody according to the present invention. Further, as mentioned in the section of recombinant vector and host, when a DNA encoding an amino acid sequence of another protein or a part thereof can be linked in frame to a recombinant vector according to the present invention at the 5′ site or 3′ site of the gene according to the present invention directly or via a DNA encoding an amino acid sequence corresponding to a cleavage site specific to a specified protease, a protein according to the present invention is expressed as a fusion protein with the other protein or the part thereof, which is also included in the protein of the present invention.

When a microorganism is used as a host, it can be cultured using any kind of medium appropriately containing carbon sources, nitrogen sources, organic salts, inorganic salts, and the like ordinarily used for cultivation of this microorganism. The cultivation is carried out according to an ordinary culture method for microorganisms, such as solid culture and liquid culture including culture with stirring (e.g., test tube shake culture, reciprocating shake culture, and jar fermenter culture) and static culture (e.g., tank culture). The culture temperature can be appropriately selected within a range suitable for the microorganisms. For example, cultivation can be carried out in a medium at pH about 6 to about 8 at a culture temperature of about 15° C. to about 40° C. The cultivation time can be determined according to the culture conditions; however, it can generally be about 1 day to about 5 days.

When an animal cell is used as a host, it can be cultured using a medium ordinarily used for this animal cell. For example, cultivation can be carried out at 37° C. using a medium such as a DMEM medium supplemented with 10% v/v FBS in the presence of 5% v/v CO₂, changing the medium every several days. When the cells are grown to be confluent, they are dispersed into individual cells using an about 0.25% w/v trypsin PBS solution, after diluting several times, the culture is inoculated into a fresh culture vessel and the cultivation is continued until the cells grow up to a targeted amount to recover the cells. By carrying out passage culture in this way, the scale of the culture can be expanded to a desired size.

Similarly, when an insect cell is used as a host, cells can be obtained by passage culture, for example, at 25° C. to 35° C. in a medium for insect cells, such as Grace's medium supplemented with 10% v/v FBS and 2% w/v yeastolate. However, when cells that are easy to come off from a culture vessel, such as an Sf21 cell, are used as hosts, the passage can be preferably carried out by dispersing the cells by pipetting but not with a trypsin solution. Further, when a transformed cell containing a virus vector such as baculovirus vector is used, it is preferable to terminate the cultivation before grown cells die off due to cytoplasmic effect, for example, 72 hours after the start of cultivation.

After cultivation, a protein according to the present invention can be purified and isolated using any known isolation and purification procedure. For example, when a protein according to the present invention is produced intracellularly, this protein can be purified by the steps of collecting cells by centrifugation or the like after cultivation, suspending the cells in an ordinary buffer such as a buffer solution comprising 20 mM HEPES, pH 7, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, and 0.5 mM PMSF to subsequently disrupt the cells using a polytron, ultrasonicator, Downs homogenizer, or the like, and recovering the supernatant fraction by ultra-centrifuging the resulting suspension at dozens of thousands ×g for several score minutes to about 1 hour to obtain a fraction containing the target protein according to the present invention.

Further, when a protein according to the present invention is secreted in a medium, a fraction containing the protein according to the present invention can be obtained as a supernatant fraction by centrifugation after cultivation. The supernatant fraction thus obtained is purified using an appropriate combination of purification procedures such as salting out, solvent precipitation, dialysis, ultrafiltration, gel electrophoresis, ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, reverse chromatography, and affinity chromatography to recover the purified protein according to the present invention.

Antibody and Method of Detecting Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria Using the Antibody

An antibody according to the present invention can recognize a protein specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. Accordingly, an antibody according to the present invention can be used for detecting beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria by antibody-antigen reaction.

An antibody according to the present invention includes both polyclonal antibody and monoclonal antibody. Since the technology for antibody construction is well known, anyone skilled in the art can readily prepare either polyclonal or monoclonal antibody by an ordinary method using a protein according to the present invention as an immunogen.

For example, an antibody according to the present invention can be obtained by administering a protein according to the present invention as an antigen with an adjuvant or the like to mammals, birds, or the like generally used for antibody production, including rabbits, mice, rats, goats, sheep, chickens, hamsters, horses, and guinea-pigs, and then obtaining an antiserum from the animals. The antiserum can be used as it is, or if necessary, it can be further fractionated and purified as described below to obtain a polyclonal antibody. For monoclonal antibody production, for example, a mouse is used as the abovementioned mammal, the spleen of the immunized mouse is extracted, cell fusion is carried out between a lymphocyte prepared from this spleen and a mouse myeloma cell (for example, p3×63 6.5.3 ATCC No. CRL-1580) using polyethylene glycol 1500 (Behringer), and then the resulting fusion cells were screened for positive strains by using a limit dilution method to obtain a hybridoma which produces the target antibody (see C. Milstein & G. Kohler, Nature, 256, 497, 1975). Further, an antibody molecule expressed by means of genetic engineering can be obtained by cloning an antibody gene or a part thereof from the hybridoma cell expressing the antibody.

An antibody is purified from a material containing the antibody thus obtained, namely an antiserum or a culture supernatant of hybridoma cells, by a purification procedure comprising a combination of one or more steps generally used for protein purification (for example, affinity chromatography such as protein A affinity chromatography, protein G affinity chromatography, Avid gel chromatography, and anti-immunoglobulin immobilized gel chromatography, cation-exchange chromatography, anion-exchange chromatography, lectin affinity chromatography, pigment adsorption chromatography, hydrophobic alternate chromatography, gel permeation chromatography, reverse-phase chromatography, hydroxyapatite chromatography, fluoroapatite chromatography, metal chelating chromatography, isoelectric point chromatography, preparatory electrophoresis, and isoelectric point electrophoresis). Further, alternatively, an antigen affinity purification method can be used, in which a gel carrier or a membrane to which a protein according to the present invention is chemically bonded is prepared, a material containing an antibody is added thereto, and the adsorbed antibody of interest is eluted and recovered under appropriate conditions.

Antibody-antigen reaction can be detected according to a known method, for example, as follows. Cells of target lactic acid bacteria are suspended in a solution containing 40 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 1 mM EDTA, and 150 mM NaCl, and then completely disrupted by vigorously stirring with a sufficient amount of glass beads for several minutes. SDS is added thereto at the final concentration of 0.1% and the suspension is stirred again and then centrifuged to recover the supernatant fraction. The antibody or a Fab′ fragment derived from the antibody is labeled by the linking of a labeling enzyme, such as horseradish peroxidase, a fluorescent substance, biotin, a radioactive isotope or the like, and mixed with the cellular extract of the target lactic acid bacteria to sufficiently bond the antibody to the antigen, after which excessive labeled antibody is removed by washing, and beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria can be detected by measuring, for example, the activity of the enzyme with which the antibody is labeled. Various methods for such detection, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, a Western blot analysis method, and a radioimmunoassay method, are known and detailed procedures can be found, for example, in Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual by Ed Harlow and David Lane, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1988.

EXAMPLE

The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples that are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Example 1 Obtaining Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria Gene

Cells of L. brevis, 3 strains of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and 2 strains of non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, were cultured statically in 100 ml of MRS medium (Oxoid) to stationary phase and grown cells were recovered, after which the whole DNA was obtained from the cells by the method of Douglas et al. (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 46, 549-552, 1983). The final DNA concentration was adjusted to about 10 mg/ml to 20 mg/ml and random polymorphic DNA PCR (RAPD PCR) (Nucleic Acid Research, 22, 6531-6535, 1990) was carried out using a 2 ml portion of this DNA as a template. Namely, PCR was performed using 540 kinds of primers from Kit AA to AZ of Operon 10-mer Kits (Operon), i.e., primers for genetic mapping comprising random 10-mer synthetic DNAs. A 20 ml portion of each primer was used at a concentration of 20 mM and a reaction solution was prepared in a total volume of 50 ml. A PCR reaction reagent used was a Takara Ex Taq kit from Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. and a reaction apparatus used was Gene Amp PCR System 9600 from Perkin Elmer. The reaction program was 45 cycles at 94° C. for 1 minute, at 36° C. for 1 minute, and at 72° C. for 2 minutes. After the reaction was completed, the reaction solution was subjected to electrophoresis with 1% agarose gel, the resulting gel was stained with an ethidium bromide solution, and then amplified bands were analyzed to select primers that recognized a gene specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, namely, primers that generated bands having a common size for the template DNAs from the 3 strains of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria but did not generate bands having a common size for the template DNAs from the 2 strains of non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, among the abovementioned 540 primers. Further, PCR was performed in the same way with the primers thus primarily selected, using DNAs extracted from 12 strains of beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria and 8 strains of non-beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria as a template DNA to more closely select primers which generate bands specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

Base sequences of the finally selected primers were as follows:

OPAT 07 5′-ACTGCGACCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 8)

OPAR 12 5′-GGATCGTCGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 9)

OPAX 05 5′-AGTGCACACC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 10)

Next, bands specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, which were generated by the abovementioned PCR, were extracted from the agarose gel, recovered using a Mag Extractor PCR and Gel Clean Up kit from Toyobo Co., Ltd, and then cloned into the pCRII vector from Invitrogen Corp.

Base sequences of the bands specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria thus cloned were determined, which revealed mutually common sequences. It was confirmed that the regions amplified by three different primers were actually a single region on a chromosome.

Accordingly, the whole DNA was prepared from beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria, L. brevis strain L50, using the method of Douglas et al. (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 46, 549-552, 1983) and this DNA was partially digested with restriction enzyme MboI, after which fragments of 15 to 20 kb were recovered and ligated to the cosmid vector pJB8 to transform E. coli DH1 and thus a genomic library was completed. Screening of this genomic library was carried out using a band amplified with the abovementioned OPAT 07 primer as a probe to obtain a DNA fragment having the restriction map shown in FIG. 1. The base sequence of this fragment was determined (SEQ ID NO: 79). Positions of ORF1 through ORF10 in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 79 are as follows:

ORF1: from position 4406 to 5353

ORF2: from position 5363 to 7297

ORF3: from position 7313 to 7717

ORF4: from position 8260 to 7766

ORF5: from position 8778 to 9056

ORF6: from position 8546 to 8755

ORF7: from position 9496 to 9867

ORF8: from position 3939 to 3022

ORF9: from position 918 to 2204

ORF10: from position 723 to 205

Functions of the ORFs found in the abovementioned base sequences were estimated by comparison with a DNA sequence database such as GENBANK. Results are as follows:

ORF1: This frame represents 315 amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 3) and presumably encodes a protein having the function of glucosyltransferase or dolichol phosphate mannose synthetase since it shows 69% homology to a protein of estimated molecular mass of 38.5 kDa which is analogous to dolichol mannose synthetase of Bacillus subtilis. ORF2: This frame represents 644 amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 5) and shows no homology to any protein in the database used for comparison. ORF3: This frame represents 134 amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 7) and presumably encodes a protein having the function of a teichoic acid galactosyltransferase since it shows 63% homology to Listeria monocytogenes gtcA, or teichoic acid glycosylated protein. ORF4: This frame represents 176 amino acids and presumably encodes a protein having the function of a nicking enzyme since it has 86% homology to Lactococcus lactis traA. ORF5: This frame represents 69 amino acids, which shows 76% homology to a predicted protein ORF0004 of Lactococcus lactis plasmid pMRC01 (Molecular Micro Biology, 4, 1029-1038, 1998). ORF6: This frame represents 92 amino acids, which shows 77% homology to a predicted protein ORF0003 of Lactococcus lactis plasmid pMRC01 (Molecular Micro Biology, 4, 1029-1038, 1998). ORF7: This frame represents 123 amino acids and presumably encodes a protein having the function of a transposase since it has 62% homology to OrfA of Caulobacter crescentus IS298. ORF8: This frame represents 305 amino acids and presumably encodes a protein having the function of a transposase since it shows 62% homology to a predicted transposase of Leuconostoc lactis IS1070. ORF9: This frame represents 428 amino acids and shows no homology to any protein in the database used for comparison. ORF10: It represents 172 amino acids and presumably encodes a protein having the function of a transcription regulatory factor since it has 49% homology to Lactococcus lactis yxcB.

Among them, ORF1, ORF2, and ORF3 presumably relate to some sugar chain synthesis since these three ORFs are present within a single operon.

Example 2 Distinction of Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria by PCR

The following primers were designed from each ORF disclosed in FIG. 1:

ORF1-1 5′-GTCAGCGTGCCGACATCCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 11)

ORF1-2 5′-TGTATTCACCAATCACCCCG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 12)

ORF2-1 5′-GCCCCGACTTGACCATTTGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 13)

ORF2-2 5′-TTAGCGGGTGAGCAGCGAGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 14)

ORF3-1 5′-ACAGCCTTGCGCTACCTGAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 15)

ORF3-2 5′-TTCACAATCAGCGGCGAACC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 16)

ORF4-1 5′-TGAGTTTTAGTAATATTAGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 17)

ORF4-2 5′-AGCCAAGCTTGATGCCGGCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 18)

ORF5-1 5′-AAAGTAACTTAGAAAAACAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 19)

ORF5-2 5′-ATGATCTACGGACTTTACCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 20)

ORF6-1 5′-TCAATATGAAAAACTAGTCGAGCAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 21)

ORF6-2 5′-TTATGGACGTTAACATAGTCAGCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 22)

ORF7-1 5′-GGAAGATGCTCAGTGGGACCGAATC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 23)

ORF7-2 5′-GCCTTTTGATGCGCTCGAACGAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 24)

ORF8-1 5′-TCACAGAAAGATTAAGTCGGCAACA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 25)

ORF8-2 5′-TCTAATTCTTTGGCGCTAACCGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 26)

ORF9-1 5′-AATTGAAAGTAAGTTGCGAAAGAAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 27)

ORF9-2 5′-GGCGAACCGTGAACAAATAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 28)

ORF10-15′-TACAATTAGTAAGACAACAGGGATT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 29)

ORF10-25′-TCAGGCAATTCTTGTTCATC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 30)

Cells of L. brevis, P. damnosus and a single species of lactic acid bacteria, for which an exact taxonomic species name was unknown, as shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3 were cultured and the whole DNAs were obtained by the method of Douglas et al. (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 46, 549-552, 1983). PCR was carried out with a primer corresponding to each of the abovementioned ORFs using about 0.1 mg of each of these DNAs as a template DNA. A reaction reagent used was a Takara Ex Taq kit from Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. and a reaction apparatus used was Gene Amp PCR System 9600 from Perkin Elmer. The reaction program was 25 cycles at 94° C. for 30 seconds, at 60° C. for 30 seconds, and at 72° C. for 1 minute. After the reaction was completed, the reaction solution was subjected to electrophoresis with 1.5% agarose gel to examine the presence or absence of a band specific to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. Further, primers were synthesized according to hita and horA genes, which had been reported as a marker gene for distinguishing beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria prior to the present invention, and used in a similar experiment to compare results. The results are shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3.

TABLE 1 Determination test for beer-spoilage bacteria for Lactobacillus brevis strains Beer- ORF1- ORF2- ORF3- ORF4- ORF5- ORF6- ORF7- ORF8- ORF9- ORF10- hitA- horA- spoilage 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 Strains ability primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer L42 − − − − − + + + − − − − + L52 − − − − − + + + − − − − + L57 − − − − − + + + − − − − + L62 − − − − − + + + − − − − + L107 − − − − − + + − − − − − + H10 − − − − − − − + − − − − + H14 − − − − − − − + − − − − + L37 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L38 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L40 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L41 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L43 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L45 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L46 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L48 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L49 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L50 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L53 + + + + + + + + + + + + + L58 + + + + + + + + + + + + +

TABLE 2 Determination test for beer-spoilage bacteria for Pediococcus damnosus strains Beer- ORF1- ORF2- ORF3- ORF4- ORF5- ORF6- ORF7- ORF8- ORF9- ORF10- hitA- horA- spoilage 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 Strains ability primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer B27 − − − − − + − − − + + + + TB6 − − − − − + − − − + + + + TB23 − − − − − + + − − + − + + TB25 − − − − − + + − − + + + + TB30 − − − − − + + − − + + + + B2 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B3 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B4 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B11 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B13 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B15 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B16 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B20 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B22 + + + + + + + − + + + + + B23 + + + + + + + − + + + + + TB2 + + + + + + + − + + + + + PD1 + + + + + + + − + + + + + PD2 + + + + + + + − + + + + +

TABLE 3 Determination test for beer-spoilage bacteria for strains of lactic acid bacteria for which species name is unknown Beer- ORF1- ORF2- ORF3- ORF4- ORF5- ORF6- ORF7- ORF8- ORF9- ORF10- hitA- horA- spoilage 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 1, 2 Strains ability primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer primer 4 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 5 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 6 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 7 − + + + + + + − + + + − − 9 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 10 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 12 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 15 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 19 − − − − − + + − − − − − − 8 + + + + + + + − + + + − − 11 + − − − − − + − − − − − − 16 + + + + + + + − + − − − − 21 + + + + + + + − + + + − − 22 + + + + + + + − + + + − − 23 + + + + + + + − + + + − −

As a result, as shown in Tables, when the operon comprising ORF1, ORF2 and ORF3 was used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could be distinguished at a markedly high frequency for both L. brevis and P. damnosus. Further, many beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could be distinguished for the strains of taxonomically unknown single species lactic acid bacteria, although the frequency of the distinction was slightly low.

Next, when ORF4 and ORF8 each neighboring this operon region were used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could be distinguished at completely the same frequency as with the genes in the operon.

On the other hand, when the horA gene was used as a marker, the bands were detected for all of the L. brevis and P. damnosus strains tested, while absolutely no band was detected for the strains of taxonomically unknown single species lactic acid bacteria.

When the hitA gene was used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could be distinguished for L. brevis at completely the same frequency as with ORF1 through ORF4 and ORF8; however, the bands were detected for all strains of P. damnosus while absolutely no band was detected for the strains of taxonomically unknown single species lactic acid bacteria.

From the results above, it was revealed that the genes of ORF1 through ORF4 and ORF8 disclosed by the present invention were superior to the previously reported genes as a marker for beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria.

Further, when ORF9 and ORF10 were used as a marker, beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could also be distinguished at a markedly high frequency if limited solely to the strains of L. brevis. When ORF5, ORF6 and ORF7 were used as a marker, no beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria could be distinguished.

Example 3 Construction of Oligonucleotides for Other Primers and Probes for Regions Highly Specific to Beer-Spoilage Lactic Acid Bacteria

Primer pairs were designed based on the base sequences of regions of ORF1, ORF2, ORF3, ORF4 and ORF8 having particularly high specificity to beer-spoilage lactic acid bacteria. If necessary, primer pairs can be designed using software for designing primers (for example, OLIGO primer analysis software ver. 6.0, National Biosciences, Inc.) or the like.

Oligonucleotides were prepared by chemical synthesis and the obtained primer pairs were used for a PCR method. PCR primer pairs for each ORF region and hybridization conditions are as follows. These oligonucleotides can be used singly as a probe.

(1) ORF1-Related PCR Primers

5′-TTACTGGCCGTTGAAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 31)

5′-TGAGCTTGCCGATGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 32)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GATGCCGACCTCCAAGATGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 33)

5′-CATGCCCACCGCCAGTA-3, (SEQ ID NO: 34)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds of 94° C., 30 seconds at 60° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CCGACTTCCGCCTGATG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 35)

5′-GGTGAGCTTGCCGATGTATT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 36)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 60° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CGCGCAAACCGTCCTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 37)

5′-AGCTTGCCGATGTATTCACC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 38)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 60° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-TCGCCGGCATGAGTGAAGTCGTGAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 39)

5′-CGGCGCAATCGTTAGGCTGGTGAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 40)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

(2) ORF2-Related PCR Primers

5′-GCGCTGTTGGTGGTAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 41)

5′-CTGGGCTGCTTGATG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 42)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-TTACTGGCGATGCTGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 43)

5′-CTTGGGGATGGTTTTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 44)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GTCGCCGTTTGCCATC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 45)

5′-CGCTTGGGGATGGTTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 46)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 55° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-TCGTGGCCTTCGGTTTCTTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 47)

5′-CGCTTGGGGATGGTTTTCA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 48)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CATCCGGTTGTGGGTAGTGAAGTTA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 49)

5′-GTGGCAAGGTTAGTGAGGGTGAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 50)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

(3) ORF3-Related PCR Primers

5′-GCCTTGCGCTACCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 51)

5′-GTGTCCGCCAGCAGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 52)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-TCTTCGGCCTGACTCACCTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 53)

5′-GCACGATGACGACGACCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 54)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 60° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CTCGCGATGCCGTGGTTCTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 55)

5′-CCGTGTCCGCCAGCkGTGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 56)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CCTTGCGCTACCTGATTGTTGGAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 57)

5′-CATAATTGAGCACGATGACGACGAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 58)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

(4) ORF4-Related PCR Primers

5′-TGAATGGGCGAGTGAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 59)

5′-GGCAGCCAAATCGTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 60)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GCCAGTGCCGCTTAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 61)

5′-TTCTTTCTGTTCGGATTCAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 62)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GTGAATCCGAACAGAAAGAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 63)

5′-ACAGCCAGCGAATGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 64)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GATAAGGAAGGTCGCCACTA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 65)

5′-GCAGCCAAATCGTGATG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 66)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 55° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-AAAGGACGAAGTGCGATTGCCAGTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 67)

5′-CGTTCATCACAGCCAGCGAATGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 68)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

(5) ORF8-Related PCR Primers

5′-GCGACGGTCTCTGTT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 69)

5′-GTTTCTTACCCGATTGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 70)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-CGACGGTCTCTGTTGAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 71)

5′-CCACTAACTTGCCTCACAAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 72)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 50° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GCTATCGCTGTCTTTTTGAA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 73)

5′-AATTTTTCGCTCCTTTGGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 74)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 60° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-TGGCAGACGTCAAGTATTTGTTCAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 75)

5′-TCAATTTTTCGCTCCTTTGGTATGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 76)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C.

5′-GAAATTCATCAAGTCACGCCCTAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 77)

5′-TCTCAATTTTTCGCTCCTTTGGTAT-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 78)

Conditions for PCR reaction are 25 cycles of 30 seconds at 94° C., 30 seconds at 65° C. and 1 minute at 72° C. 

1. An isolated probe which consists of a nucleotide sequence consisting of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides from position 4202 to 7513 of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the complementary sequence thereof, wherein said probe hybridizes over its entire length to SEQ ID NO:
 1. 2. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or the complementary sequence thereof.
 3. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence consists of at least 20 nucleotides.
 4. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, and the complementary sequences thereof.
 5. The probe according to claim 1, which is labeled.
 6. A method of determining if beer-spoilage lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus brevis or Pediococcus damnosus is present in a beer sample, the method comprising: (i) contacting a nucleic acid sample from the beer sample with the isolated probe of claim 1; (ii) detecting the presence or absence of a hybridization complex formed between said nucleic acid and said isolated probe; and (iii) determining that beer-spoilage lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus brevis or Pediococcus damnosus is present in the sample when said hybridization complex is present.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the nucleic acid sample is isolated from a colony of bacteria obtained from beer.
 8. An isolated polynucleotide primer pair, wherein the first primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence from position 4202 to position 7513 of SEQ ID NO: 1, and the second primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence from position 4202 to position 7513 of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, and wherein said primer pair amplifies SEQ ID NO: 1 and the complementary sequence thereof.
 9. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the first primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 and the second primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 10. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the contiguous nucleotides are at least 20 contiguous nucleotides.
 11. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the two primers are selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, and the complementary sequences thereof.
 12. A method of determining if beer-spoilage lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus brevis or Pediococcus damnosus is present in a beer sample, the method comprising: (i) amplifying a nucleic acid sample from the beer sample using the primer pair of claim 8; (ii) detecting the presence or absence of an amplification product; and (iii) determining that beer-spoilage lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus brevis or Pediococcus damnosus is present in the nucleic acid sample when an amplification product is detected.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the nucleic acid sample is isolated from a colony of bacteria obtained from beer.
 14. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or the complementary sequence thereof.
 15. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 14, and the complementary sequences thereof.
 16. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the first primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 and the second primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 4. 17. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the two primers are selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 14, and the complementary sequences thereof.
 18. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 or the complementary sequence thereof.
 19. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the nucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, and the complementary sequences thereof.
 20. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the first primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6 and the second primer consists of at least 15 contiguous nucleotides of the sequence complementary to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 6. 21. The primer pair according to claim 8, wherein the two primers are selected from the group consisting of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 16, and the complementary sequences thereof. 